Sarah Kauffman and her mixed breed dog Kilo that was adopted from the Chester County SPCA. (Courtesy photo.)

WEST GOSHEN — Differing philosophies are a point of controversy currently surrounding the Chester County SPCA.

While the shelter says it is merely trying every possible option to save animals’ lives, critics are asking at what cost.

Emily Simmons, executive director of the shelter, said that currently the CCSPCA is the only open access shelter in Chester and Delaware counties. Under the new board, the shelter has a goal of also eventually becoming no-kill — one of the first shelters in the country to aspire to do both simultaneously.

“We are the only open access shelter in a two-county area. It’s both a huge blessing and creates a lot of operational challenges,” said Simmons. “We don’t turn any animal away, regardless of medical condition, behavior, etc. We are here to provide shelter, care and equal opportunity for all animals here.”

Advertisement

By being open access and no-kill, Simmons said that the shelter wants to take in any and every animal, while also finding homes for them as well. The new policy is one of many changes, Simmons said, including longer hours, 24-hour animal care and a new behavior training program set to start within the month.

Simmons said since the new policies have been put in place, numbers have improved. She said that in December, the live release rate for all species in the shelter was 82 percent and in November it was 77 percent. Simmons noted that “despite gains we made in November and December” the overall live release rate for 2013 in total was only 66%. From January to end of August, the total live release rate was 59 percent, according to documents.

According to Simmons, in 2013 the shelter took in 5,670 animals. She said 1.7% of those came from humane acquisitions, or animals involved in cruelty cases, 58.3% were strays, 36.6 percent were owner surrendered and 3.6 percent were return adoptions.

This goal of eventually becoming no-kill has been hit with some controversy as some close to the shelter question whether it’s possible to take in every animal and find a home for all of them – especially those with behavior issues.

Mike Dempsey, former interim operations manager for the shelter and volunteer for 13 years, said that while he thinks the shelter’s goal is “noble” it is going to be difficult to get done.

Dempsey said he hopes that critics of the shelter’s new policies and those at the shelter can work together to increase transparency and thoroughly review the new policies.

“I am open to sit down and speak in a kind, open-minded humane way to voice my concerns to the shelter,” Dempsey said.

Arnie Milowsky, former kennel coordinator who resigned in mid-October because of the new policies, also said the shelter’s no-kill goal sounds too good to be true.

“It’s a very lofty goal. It’s a very noble goal,” Milowsky said. “But I don’t think it’s achievable given the nature of the animal population that goes along with being open access.”

At the center of the controversy of open access and no-kill ideology is concern about dogs with behavior problems. Many of those the Daily Local News spoke to said that while they want to be advocates for the animals, they also want the shelter to be responsible for safety of the community.

“The concept of open access is that they take any animal — sick, healthy, request to put to sleep — and you deal with it,” Milowsky said. “You don’t get to pick and choose. You wind up with some animals that are very sick. You wind up with some animals that may not be behaviorally acceptable to re-home. That’s why people may be considering animals dangerous.”

Milowsky said that over the summer when accusations of mismanagement and sky-high euthanasia rocked the CCSPCA, he felt that many of the claims were untrue and were made by a handful of people, who he noted are now back working at the shelter. While he was at the shelter, the live release rate from January to August 2013 for dogs was 77 percent, and the euthanasia rate was 25 percent, much lower than other open access shelters in the area, he said.

After a kennel technician was bitten in May, Milowsky said the shelter did an accident review to figure out what happened. One of the things the shelter came up with, Milowsky said, was that “while we will be advocates for animals and our job is to try to rehome as many as possible, our first priority was to the safety of our staff, volunteers and the community. If there are dogs going out that are not being evaluated properly and have significant bite histories, then the shelter has abandoned that philosophy.”

Others also say that euthanasia is a part of the shelter world.

“I am a strong animal advocate, but I do think there is a need for euthanasia in animals, especially dangerous dogs,” said one former staff member who asked not to be named.

The staff member, who worked at the shelter for several years before resigning in November, said that she decided she did not want to be associated with the shelter any longer after new policies put in place.

“I would not like to think that I’m involved in any way, shape or form that lets a dog that has bitten a person severely be put on the adoption floor,” she said.

Simmons said that the shelter absolutely does not put aggressive dogs on the adoption floor. She said all dogs go through temperament testing, which she noted is just a snapshot of how a dog acts at one particular time. She said that if the shelter deems a dog too aggressive it is put down. Within the past couple of months, Simmons said that the shelter has euthanized two dogs that the shelter felt were “not safe to put into the community.

“If an animal that we feel is a clear danger to other animals, him or herself, or people, we have a responsibility to the community,” she added. “But as any behaviorist will tell you, the amount of truly aggressive dogs is very few and far between.”

Current volunteers echo Simmons statements.

“Of course no one would want to adopt a dangerous dog,” wrote one current volunteer in an email to DLN. “Having dangerous dogs on the adoption floor would benefit no one. That animal would hurt someone, be euthanized, it would give a bad reputation for that breed, along with the shelter reputation at stake and being a possible liability case. No one wins in that situation!

“Dogs are all individuals, and making a blanket statement that we have dangerous dogs, scares the public from adopting — which is not what these loving animals need,” the volunteer continues.

One dog, Millie, has caused a heated debate between the two groups. According to a copy of the shelter’s intake form for Millie given to the Daily Local News, Millie was surrendered after she had “attacked her owner earlier that day.”

The document goes on to say the owner was watching TV when he went to go into the kitchen and Millie “launched herself full-force at his face.”

The intake form says that the man’s face and jaw was bitten, and he was instructed by urgent care to “go to a hospital due to the severity of the wounds and the need for a plastic surgeon’s care.”

However, shelter staff said that they saw bite marks from another dog on Millie, and believed she had been fighting with another dog when the owner was bitten.

The intake form notes that after arriving at the shelter, Millie “showed no aggression” with staff members or towards other dogs.

Behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall also evaluated the dog, Simmons said, and did not find her to be aggressive. Many current volunteers, staff and board said that Millie currently shows no signs of aggression, and has become a favorite of shelter staff.

Chester County resident Sarah Kauffman said that after visiting the shelter, she and her husband decided to adopt an American Staffordshire Terrier and Lab mix that shelter staff had told her could be skittish. After taking Kilo home, Kauffman said she took the dog to a local veterinarian. When the veterinarian entered the room, Kilo began growling and seemed upset, Kauffman said. She added she had not seen Kilo act that way towards someone before.

“The vet said that the dog never should have been adopted out and should have been put down,” she said. “I just remember leaving, thinking how could someone bring all this political stuff into a conversation with someone that is so clearly excited about getting a dog.”

Kauffman said she was upset with what the veterinarian had said, and felt it was uncalled for. She said that the dog has since been back to see a different veterinarian, who said Kilo has some anxiety, and has not had a problem with Kilo being aggressive since.

“We have no problem with her. She is just the sweetest,” Kauffman said. “I can’t imagine one snap judgment from someone deciding to put her down just because she growled at the vet. I can’t wrap my head around someone wanting to put this dog down just because she’s ‘vicious.’”

One former volunteer who has spoken out against the shelter said that those criticizing new policies do not want “to turn people away from the CCSPCA” but rather make people more aware of the situation. He said that despite concerns, he wants to “encourage rescuing and adopting.”

“There are thousands of deserving animals that need a second chance and a wonderful home. Rescued animals pay you back with unconditional love,” he writes.

He added that he felt that policies just need to be examined thoroughly before being put in place.

“A realistic and necessary approach to the euthanasia policy will eliminate the concern about the behavioral issues of some animals,” he writes. “No animal has perfect behavior and no one should expect that, especially in a shelter. It is a stressful place for animals, and no one wants any animal to be put to sleep unless it is for the betterment of that animal and the safety of humans and other animals.”

Follow Daily Local News staff writer on Twitter at @KendalGapinski.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:

www.twitter.com/wcdailylocal

www.facebook.com/dailylocalnews

About the Author

Kendal Gapinski is the Daily Local News reporter covering events in the Whiteland and Uwchlan areas. She is a 2013 graduate from American University. Reach the author at kgapinski@dailylocal.com
.